Prepared food products come in a wide variety of styles. Many prepared food products, whether ready-to-eat or those needing further cooking, are prepared with a coating that makes the food product more appealing. Such prepared food products include entrees, appetizers, desserts (such as pastries, donuts), etc., and include meats, cheese, fruit and vegetables, etc. The types of coatings used on these food products can include dry coatings such as flour, bread crumbs, corn meal, sugar and spice, and the like.
Prepared food products can also include one or more toppings applied to one or more sides of the food product. Such prepared food products include pizzas, pretzels, fish or other meat patties, and the like. The types of toppings used on these food products include cheese, mushrooms, sausage, sugar and cinnamon, spices, breadings, salt, and the like.
Some food products have a batter applied to them before the coating or topping is applied. In the commercial production of prepared foods, a large variety of food products are machine-coated with breading, flour or the like before being fried (or otherwise cooked), or simply frozen and packaged. Food coatings may also include seasonings, spices, shortening, etc., as needed to add flavor and texture to the food product. Other coatings such as ground cereal, dried vegetables or the like may also be employed.